Mansinam Island, Where The Gospel Began

7 July 2011826 viewsNo Comment

Soli Deo Gloria

Mansinam Island is an island covering an area of about 410.97 acres located in the Gulf Doreh, south of Manokwari, West Papua Province, Indonesia. About 154 years ago two evangelist from Germany, CW Ottow and Johann Gottlob Geissler set foot on this island. Those missionaries arrived after a long journey a Abel Tasman ship.

Since their arrival, Mansinam island became an important point of the spread of Christianity in the land of Papua, Masinam island is the firt island in Papua where a person embraced Christianity. The island was also the starting point for entry of a formal education in Papua. In fact, the history of education in Papua, also can’t be separated from the island which now only has one elementary school. In 1857, Mrs. Ottow opened a school for girls in Kwawi (Manokwari) using a room as a class.

Nowadays, Mansinam is famous for religious tourism, tourists will be welcomed by a huge memorial cross. The monument is surrounded by a locked fence but if the tourists want to go to this memorial they can request the caretaker, Adolf Sarumi, to unlock it. There are also many relics of the history of Christianity in this island, and among other things is the hostel and an old well built by the two vagabonds already explained above.

Beside the religious tourism, Mansinam is also known as the island for its beautiful views. The white sand, clean and still very natural-looking, and the stunning underwater sceneries.The tourists can do many interesting activities such as swimming, boating around the island, snorkeling and many more.

To reach this island, tourists can cross over to Mansinam via the Kwawi beach using long boat or traditional boat, it takes about 10-15 minutes to the island Mansinam. For tourists who are not satisfied with just a day visiting the island can always choose to overstay since this island had a fairly comfortable hotel with beautiful views facing the beach.

But before doing the trip to Mansinam, make sure you are in top shape physically, because Mansinam is a malaria endemic areas, however, it’s not something to be feared because we can prevent it. A week before traveling there, consume some bitter herbs(kina or sambiloto), and take some of it for precaution.